Shock absorbent collar for armor plate

ABSTRACT

A shock absorbent collar for a protective torso armor plate for human beings made of expanded plastic material. The expanded plastic is crushable and, therefore, impact absorbing. The collar protects the neck, chin, and face or other portions of the head of the wearer of the armor plate in case of sudden deceleration of the body of the wearer of the armor plate, which would shift upwardly in such event and in the absence of the collar would strike the neck or chin or other parts of the head of the wearer with damaging force.

United States Patent Durand et al. 1 Jan. 7, 1975 [5 SHOCK ABSORBENT COLLAR FOR 3,398,406 8/1968 Waterbury 2/2.5 ARMOR PLATE 3,557,384 1/1971 Barron et al 2/2.5 3,634,889 1/1972 Rolsten 2/2.5 [75 Inventors: Philip E. Durand, Hudson;

Lonnie Norris Mllford Primary ExaminerAlfred R. Guest both of Mass- Attorney, Agent, or Firr nNathan Edelberg; Robert T. [73] Assignee: United States of America as Glbson; Charles Raine)! represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC. ABSTRACT [22] Filed. 26 1974 A shock absorbent collar for a protective torso armor plate for human beings made of expanded plastic ma- PP bio-14541899 terial. The expanded plastic is crushable and, there- 7 fore, impact absorbing. The collar protects the neck, [52] U S Cl 2/2 5 chin, and face or other portions of the head of the [51] In} .0 1/62 wearer of the armor plate in Case of Sudden decelera [58] Fie'ld 2/2 5 tion of the body of the wearer of the armor plate, which would Shift p y in Such event and in the bsence of the collar would strike the neck or chin or [56] References Clted a other parts of the head of the wearer w1th damagmg UNITED STATES PATENTS forci 956.203 4/1910 Sibold 2/25 1,324,234 12/1919 Daigre 2/25 6 Claims, 5 a g Flgures SHOCK ABSORBENT COLLAR FOR ARMOR PLATE The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a shock absorbent collar for a protective frontal torso armor plate for human beings for protecting the neck, chin, and other portions of the face or head of the wearer of the armor plate against serious injury in the event of a sudden shifting upwardly of the armor plate resulting from a crash or some other cause of abrupt stoppage or deceleration of the body of a wearer of such armor plate.

In recent years body armor comprising ceramic armor plates to protect the torso of the wearer against serious or fatal injury to the vital organs has been developed to the point that effective protection is obtained against small arms fire, such as up to .30 caliber projectiles, and reasonably effective protection is obtained against shell fragments and the like. This type of armor plate is rather heavy, is rigid, and is capable of inflicting serious injury to the neck or chin or other portions of the face or head of the wearer in the event that the wearer is involved in a crash or for any other reason is suddenly stopped or decelerated while in motion. Such abrupt deceleration occurs all too frequently in the cases of aircrewmen, particularly when they are involved in combat missions.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a shock absorbent collar for a protective frontal torso armor plate which will protect the neck, chin and other portions of the face and head of the wearer of the armor plate against serious injury caused by the upward shifting or translation of the armor plate in the event of sudden deceleration or abrupt stoppage of movement of the body of the wearer of the armor plate.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of one embodiment of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claims.

SUMMARY The objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a shock absorbent collar for a protective frontal torso armor plate which is constructed of expanded plastic to impart crushability and, therefore, impact absorbency characteristics to the collar so that, if the armor plate suddenly shifts upwardly, the neck or chin or other portions of the face or head of the wearer of the armor plate will be cushioned against the heavy and rigid armor plate by the crushable collar, while is efffectively interposed between the upper edge of the armor plate and the neck and head of the wearer. The density of the expanded plastic of which the collar is formed and the thickness and width of the collar enter into a determination of how effectively the wearers neck and chin and other portions of his face or head are protected against injury by the upper edge of the armor plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is an exploded view in perspective of a proteclive frontal torso armor plate and a shock absorbent collar therefor in accordance with the present invention, the armor plate having a curvature corresponding more or less to the curvature of the torso of a wearer thereof.

FIG. 2 is a frontal view of the shock absorbent collar as it would be viewed from behind the sheet in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal cross-section of a portion of the shock absorbent collar taken through a plane represented by the line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the shock absorbent collar oriented as in FIG. I.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-section of the shock absorbent collar with portions of the collar shown in perspective, the cross-section being taken along a plane as represented by the line 55 of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Body armor developed in recent years for use by members of the Armed Forces for protection of their torsos and vital organs against small arms fire and shell fragments comprises a composite of a ceramic armor plate usually bonded or laminated to a backing layer or combination of laminae of a ballistic material, such as woven ballistic fiber glass fabric in a matrix of plastic, such as the armor system described in US. Pat. No. 3,557,384. In such body armor the ceramic armor plate is customarily employed as the outer layer of the composite armor plate with respect to the wearer of the body armor. Such body armor may be encased in a fabric carrier and may be worn inside of a jacket whiclf may or may not be constructed of or comprise ballistic materials.

The present invention provides a shock absorbent collar for attachment to or use in combination with a ceramic body armor plate to prevent serious injury to the neck or chin or other portions of the face or head of the wearer of such body armor resulting from the sudden upward translation of the ceramic body armor plate caused by a rapid deceleration of the body of the wearer. Since the body armor is usually suspended from the front portion of the jacket by means of a pair of zipper type fasteners or some other means of attachment to the jacket, it is easily shifted upwardly relative to the body of the wearer of the armor if the wearers body is suddenly decelerated while in motion.

In the drawing, reference numeral 10 generally represents a shock absorbent collar made of expanded plastic according to the invention and reference numeral l 1 generally represents a protective frontal torso armor plate which is a portion of a body armor system. The top edge of the armor plate is made concave so as to fit under the chin of the wearer while the portions of the armor plate extending upwardly on each side of the concavity protect the shoulders or substantial portions thereof. The shock absorbent collar 10, which is made of expanded plastic material, is formed so as to approximate the curvature of the concave top edge of the armor plate, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thus the convex portion 12 of the collar mates with the concave portion 13 of the armor plate when the two are brought together. When this is done, the side arms 14 and 15 of the rear portion of the collar extend over and downwardly along the side edges of the shoulder protecting portions 16 and 17 of the armor plate. The collar is formed with a concave upper surface 18 so as to fit under the chin of the wearer and with shoulder portions 19 and 20, the back parts of which fit over the shoulder protecting portions 16 and 17, respectively, of the armor plate.

As is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, the front portion of the collar has a frontal extension 21 which extends a short distance down over the upper front surface of the armor plate and serves as a means for attaching the collar to the armor plate. The upper portion of the armor plate fits into the recess 22 formed in the collar so that the rear surface of the armor plate is flush with the rear surface of the collar,'the width of the recess being substantially equivalent to the thickness of the armor plate, particularly along and closely adjacent to the top edge of the armor plate. Usually the collar will be adhered to the upper portion of the front surface of the armor plate by application of a resinous or other adhesive (not shown) between the rear surface 23 of frontal extension 21 and the front surface of the armor plate which meets the rear surface of the frontal extension with the collar and armor plate are brought together. Other means for attaching the collar in place over the upper portion of the armor plate may, of course, be used without appreciably diminishing the effectiveness of the protection of'the neck or chin or other portions of the face or head of the wearer of the body armor by the shock absorbent collar.

The shock absorbent collar is preferably made of expanded plastic material which has the ability to absorb more or less shock by crushing, the amount of shock absorbed depending on the type of material, the degree to which it has been expanded, and, therefore, the density of the expanded plastic material, the width, depth, and length of the expanded plastic portion of the collar which is crushed between the armor plate and the neck or chin or other portions of the face or head of the wearer when the armor plate is suddenly translated upwardly and the collar is caught between the upper edge of the armor plate and the neck or chin of the wearer. The preferred expanded plastic material used in making the shock absorbent collar of the invention is polystyrene having a density of about 2 pounds per cubic foot. However, foamed polyethylene, foamed polyvinyl chloride, and numerous other foamed or expanded plastic materials may be used, the most effective of such expanded plastics having densities between about 1 pound per cubic foot and about pounds per cubic foot. Foamed polyethylene having a density of about 9 pounds per cubic foot has been found quite effective.

The dimensions of the shock absorbent collar will necessarily vary somewhat depending on the size of the armor plate with which it is used. The size of the armor plate will, of course, vary somewhat depending on the size of the wearer of the body armor. In general, however, it has been found preferably to make the shock absorbent collars with the portion shown in crosssection in FIG. 5 above the frontal extension 21 and lying between concave upper surface 18 and the surface of convex portion 12 approximately one inch wide and one inch deep, with the frontal extension 21 about 0.38 inch wide and 0.62 inch deep, and with the recess 22 about 0.62 inch wide. Thus, the recess will be of substantially the same width for most shock absorbent collars. Likewise the overall thickness or width of the collars according to. the invention will be about one inch and the depth of the portion of the collar directly above the armor plate, as described above will usually be about one inch. Other dimensions may vary somewhat to make the collars fit armor plates of different sizes and possibly slightly different configurations of the upper portions thereof.

The invention has been described in terms of a particular shape of collar and of particular materials having certain physical characteristics. It is to be under stood, however, that the shock absorbent collar of the invention may have, other shapes and dimensions and that it may be constructed of other types of materials provided that they possess the shock absorbing properties requisite to the protecting of the neck, chin, and other portions of the face and head of the wearer of protective frontal torso armor plate against serious injury which would result from the sudden upward shifting of the armor plate in the event of a sudden deceleration or abrupt stoppage of movement of the body of the wearer. The expected abruptness of deceleration of the wearers body based on past experience and the weight of the armor plate will, of course, have to be taken into account in determining the type of material and the dimensions of the collar which will absorb the kinetic energy of the armor plate sufficiently to prevent serious injury to the wearer of the armor plate.

It will be apparent that we have provided a very effective means for protecting the neck, chin, and other portions of the face and head of a wearer of armor plate against serious injury by the upward shifting of the armor plate on the torso of the wearer thereof in the event of a sudden deceleration of the body of the wearer. This protection combined with the protection of the torso of the wearer against small arms missiles or shell fragments afforded by the armor plate results in a high level of protection for individuals who may be exposed to small arms fire or shell fragmentation.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangements of parts which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. The combination of a shock absorbent collar and a protective frontal torso armor plate, said collar fitting closely against the top edge of said armor plate and substantially following the contours of said top edge and being flush with the back surface of said armor plate, said collar being formed from expanded plastic to impart crushability and impact absorbency charac teristics thereto, said expanded plastic having a density of from about 1 to about l0 pounds per cubic foot, said collar having a depth from its upper surface to its surface of contact with said armor plate sufficient to cause absorption of enough of the energy imparted to said armor plate when said armor plate is suddenly translated upwardly toward the head of the wearer of said armor plate to prevent serious injury to the neck, chin, or other portions of the head of said wearer.

2. The combination of a shock absorbent collar and a protective frontal torso armor plate according to claim 1, wherein said collar comprises a frontal extension thereof which covers a portion of the front surface of said armor plate, said frontal extension being attached to the upper front surface of said armor plate.

3. The combination of a shock absorbent collar and a protective frontal torso armor plate according to claim 2, wherein said collar comprises a pair of side arm extensions thereof which cover a portion of each of the side edges of said armor plate and follow the conclaim 3, wherein said collar is constructed of expanded polystyrene having a density of about 2 pounds per cubic foot.

6. The combination of a shock absorbent collar and a protective frontal torso armor plate according to claim 3, wherein said collar is constructed of foamed polyethylene having a density of about 9 pounds per 

1. The combination of a shock absorbent collar and a protective frontal torso armor plate, said collar fitting closely against the top edge of said armor plate and substantially following the contours of said top edge and being flush with the back surface of said armor plate, said collar being formed from expanded plastic to impart crushability and impact absorbency characteristics thereto, said expanded plastic having a density of from about 1 to about 10 pounds per cubic foot, said collar having a depth from its upper surface to its surface of contact with said armor plate sufficient to cause absorption of enough of the energy imparted to said armor plate when said armor plate is suddenly translated upwardly toward the head of the wearer of said armor plate to prevent serious injury to the neck, chin, or other portions of the head of said wearer.
 2. The combination of a shock absorbent collar and a protective frontal torso armor plate according to claim 1, wherein said collar comprises a frontal extension thereof which covers a portion of the front surface of said armor plate, said frontal extension being attached to the upper front surface of said armor plate.
 3. The combination of a shock absorbent collar and a protective frontal torso armor plate according to claim 2, wherein said collar comprises a pair of side arm extensions thereof which cover a portion of each of the side edges of said armor plate and follow the contours of said side edges adjacent to said top edge of said armor plate.
 4. The combination of a shock absorbent collar and a protective frontal torso armor plate according to claim 2, wherein said collar is attached to said armor plate by adhering said frontal extension of said collar to said front surface of said armor plate.
 5. The combination of a shock absorbent collar and a protective frontal torso armor plate according to claim 3, wherein said collar is constructed of expanded polystyrene having a density of about 2 pounds per cubic foot.
 6. The combination of a shock absorbent collar and a protective frontal torso armor plate according to claim 3, wherein said collar is constructed of foamed polyethylene having a density of about 9 pounds per cubic foot. 